Friday 23 April 2010

A Question

I wonder if I might ask my followers and anyone else interested a question? It is regarding whether to allow uncensored comments on my blog. 

As a general rule, I am not hugely in favour of censorship. I have put my settings for this blog so that anyone can make comments on any of my posts but I am having a problem with comments which are merely advertising. Most of these, although not exclusively, are Chinese and advertise porn or drugs or some just other forms of advertising. I am notified through my email when these are posted, and so I come here as soon as I can and delete them but I am thinking perhaps I should change my settings so that no comments can be posted until I approve them. Frankly it goes against my principles but perhaps I am being silly and I would very much like to hear what you all have to say.

12 comments:

Nancy Daleo said...

that's a tuff one Anne. ummm...i dunno. lol. let's c if i'm sensored and how i feel about it.

annezoutsos said...

It is difficult isn't it Nancy? Well you won't be censored here!!

Anne

CENTEREST said...

I just have my setting so that I read it first. If its not a legitimate comment, then I do not post it.

annezoutsos said...

I received an email from a reader with the following comment:
"My opinion is that you should definitely reset so you can approve comments before posting. You own the site and I, for one, am frankly sick of those who use "freedom of speech" as an excuse to pour filth, derision, and evil helter skelter into people's lives."
So this person and Centerest both think I should moderate comments. I did briefly, when I was deleting a load of Chinese porn comments and new ones were being posted as fast as I could delete them! I don't know why I am so reluctant to do so and think that unless someone makes a really good argument for not moderating comments, I shall change my settings so that they are no longer posted automatically. Shame.

Anne

annezoutsos said...

Someone else also emailed me the following:
"I always approve mine before posting to my blog.
Doesn't take long."

Well yes, it does make sense but I suppose it just goes against the grain for me. I suspect however that I will be changing my settings shortly!

Thanks to those who have written - it's lovely having feedback :)

Anne

Anne

Leslie said...

I do not moderate my comments; started out that way and decided I didn't need to. I do use the "word verification" feature, which seems to keep the spam away. I did once receive a whole string of comments in Chinese characters and I immediately reported the profile to Google. I have not had that happen since. I recommend reporting anyone who leaves unwanted comments on your blog so that Google can deal with them.

annezoutsos said...

That's interesting Leslie - it didn't occur to me to report the profile to Google. That's something I will definitely consider - thank you.

Anne

Dean Grey said...

I do comment moderation all the time for my blogs. Don't see why that's a problem.

You're technically not censoring people's comments, just approving them before they get published.

-Dean

Dean Grey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
annezoutsos said...

Yes, I think I'm probably just being silly - you're right Dean, it is moderation not censorship, but I'd still rather not. I suppose I'll wait until I find masses of Chinese comments, delete them all, kick myself and then change my settings!!

Anne

Connie Schwarz said...

after viewing your last entry about animal cruelty and with regard to the commercial smut thats out there ..... censor, censor, censor! negative energy is negative energy. this is your domain, its your call. and lastly you might want to read up on modern Chinese culture in regards to .... oh lets start with dogs, then cats then tigers and end with baby girls to help you make your decision.
by the way, i do love your blog!
thank you
connie

annezoutsos said...

Well I haven't started censoring - or more accurately, moderating my comments yet. I will wait to see if my blog gets inundated with Chinese comments again - or people who comment but have a link to an advertisement of some sort - and if so - settings will be changed!! It's funny how you can find out things about yourself by accident - my resistance to 'censoring' being something about myself I hadn't been aware of until now!

Anne